NASA sign up US Navy for opening three Orion splashdowns | NASASpaceFlight.com

NASA sign up US Navy for opening three Orion splashdowns

February 26, 2013 by Chris Bergin

An agreement has been signed with the United States Navy to provide splashdown recovery support for NASA’s Orion spacecraft through to the crewed Exploration Mission -2 (EM-2). The support will include Navy boat teams and a Landing Platform-Dock (LPD) ship, with two exercises scheduled ahead of the EFT-1 mission.

Orion’s Naval Support:

For the 30 year career of the Space Shuttle, NASA astronauts enjoyed landing on a runway – with a fleet of support vehicles rushing to surround the orbiter moments after initial safing tasks were complete. This was a marked improvement on the ocean splashdowns endured during the early days of the space program.

With NASA refocused on using capsules for their Beyond Earth Orbit (BEO) aspirations, astronauts will once again end their missions in deep space by parachuting into the waters off the coast of the United States.